Abstract
BackgroundIntervertebral disc disease (IDD) is a very common neurological disease, Dachshunds being the breed most often affected. In this breed, IDD has a hereditary background and is associated with intervertebral disc calcification (IDC), an indicator of severe intervertebral disc degeneration. In Finland, spinal radiography is used, when screening for IDC before breeding Dachshunds. We evaluated the association between IDC and IDD in Finnish Dachshunds radiographically screened for IDC.A questionnaire was sent to owners of 193 radiographically screened Dachshunds aged at least ten years. Clinical signs indicative of IDD were compared with IDC grade (grade 0 = no calcifications, grade 1 = 1 – 2 calcifications, grade 2 = 3 – 4 calcifications and grade 3 = 5 or more calcifications) and with age at the time of the radiographic examination. The diagnosis of IDD was confirmed by a veterinarian.ResultsIDD was common in the study population with 31% of dogs being affected. IDD and IDC were clearly connected (P < 0.001); IDD was rare in dogs with no calcifications (grade 0) and common in dogs with severe IDC (grade 3). The IDC grade was strongly positively associated with frequency of back pain periods (P < 0.001), and dogs with IDC grade 3 had frequent periods of pain. Reluctance to jump onto a sofa had a strong positive association with back pain. No association existed between age of the dog at the time of the radiographic examination and clinical signs indicative of IDD.ConclusionsRadiographically detected IDC and IDD are common in Finnish Dachshunds and are strongly associated with one another. Spinal radiography is an appropriate screening tool for breeders attempting to diminish IDC and IDD in Dachshunds. A breeding program that screens dogs and selects against IDC can be expected to reduce the occurrence of IDD in future. Twenty-four to 48 months of age is a suitable age for screening.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13028-014-0089-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Intervertebral disc disease (IDD) is a very common neurological disease, Dachshunds being the breed most often affected
The aim of our study was to inspect the association between intervertebral disc calcification (IDC) and IDD in Finnish Dachshunds radiographically screened for IDC during a ten-year follow-up period
The dog was recorded as positive for IDD if it had had neurological deficits of the limbs or pain focusing on the back or neck, and the diagnosis had been confirmed by a veterinarian by clinical examination or in surgery
Summary
Intervertebral disc disease (IDD) is a very common neurological disease, Dachshunds being the breed most often affected. Intervertebral disc calcification (IDC) is regarded as part of the disc degeneration process in both man and dog [8,9,10,11,12]. In children, it is a rare condition of unknown origin, occurring most often in the cervical spine and causing severe pain [13,14,15]. In Dachshunds, most radiographically visible disc calcifications can be seen by two years of age Lappalainen et al Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica (2014)56:89
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